The Wiccan Diaries: Neophyte Adept Part 61

"For one, Lia's grown very fond of you."

"And the second reason?" I asked, snuggling up to him.

"Vampires aren't exactly welcomed in Prague," said Ballard. "He won't be able to visit much."

Would Ballard join my House? Could he, now that he was Head of the cyanthropesof all the cyanthropes, because the Benandanti still owed him their allegiance. The Bennys had essentially hived from the Sons and Daughters of Romulusbut Lux, who had taught me of hiving, was right: Houses didn't just break from other Houses, not really.

"Traduttore, traditore. Gaven was right. Look at this place," said Ballard. He stared up at the Master House. "I could just peek, you know? If Selwyn's in there..."

"He may not be turned, Ballard. Come on," I said, dragging him away.

We rushed through a crowd of shoppers, down the Lane as it forked to the left, until we were walking along a hedgerow, out of town. The Districts of Magic were disappearing behind us.

According to the book, Ravenseal House was somewhere down this avenue, we just had to find it. I stopped to get my bearings, but also check my House.

Hair blowing helter-skelter I found the page I was looking for. "R, R," I whispered to myself, turning the pages frantically. Ballard must've thought I was a madwoman.

A new tingling was in my fingertips. Was I about to discover the secret whereabouts of my House?

"It's not here," I said, flipping through the Directory despondently.

IF YOUR HOUSE IS NOT LISTED, said the book, SEARCH THE BACK OF THE DIRECTORY.

Of course. The index listed Houses no longer with us.

THESE ARE THE HOUSES THAT WERE, BUT ARE NO LONGER, said the book.

I flipped to the back. Whereas the living Housesthose that had not been eradicatedlisted physical addresses, along with those who were in them, their Heads and so forthwhat I called the dead Houses listed only the House names and dates of obliteration. No other information was presented. No wonder the book was shrinking. There were hundreds of them... Thousands of listings... Houses from the past that had been wiped outmost of them pre-dated the twentieth centurybut no House Rookmaaker. I didn't know where it was at.

Hoping it was some kind of mistake, I turned to the t.i.tle page, but it was last year's copy. Rookmaaker, if it existed, should've been listed. "But it's not!" I said, slamming the Directory shut.

Ballard seemed antsy"Um, Halls?"

"Yes, Ballard?"

I flipped back to Ravenseal. A list of eleven names was presented, with Veruschka's at the top.

HOUSE RAVENSEAL.

its Members Veruschka Ravenseal *

Rumor Scroop *

Balthasar LeFlaq Pirapong Bonewits Rosamund Rasmussen Tatiana Tower Polixines Derevjanik Pericles Pike Lara Tanner Djonga Hardesty Lux Aeterna *

missing *Symbols next to names denote powers not usually a.s.sociated with Wicca-craft. Names ranked in order of their significance.

Lux was at the bottom. I got a kind of icy p.r.i.c.kle when I saw the twelfth spot, where I should have been listed. No twelfth. Missing.

"I hate to bother you and all, but you might want to get ready for a fight," said Ballard.

"What?"

I looked up. Two witches and a wizard were making their way down the hedgerow. It was getting late and the clouds were making parhelia, sundogs, bright spots of light on either side of the sun, which may have been their Lights. The Wiccans were shooting them at us.

I put my book away, stuffing it into my backpack, when suddenly Lux appeared. Comprehension dawned on his face.

"Halsey? What are you doing here?" he said.

"h.e.l.lo Professor Lux."

He formed the W. The talons were on his fingers, tridents which helped him to craft. Had he been? That would have been unusual. He didn't normally do magic.

I hoped he didn't inquire as to the further development of my Mark. As always when I was around him, I felt my shortcomings like a hard edge, cut into my flesh.

Ballard seemed to encourage a confrontation. The sun was not fully down yet. I didn't want to get into anything without Lennox present. We were still within the purlieus of the Districts of Magic, were we not? I hadn't been caught on Ravenseal territory, unawares, had I? If so, I didn't know what I would do.

Lux looked towards Stromovka. The cloud of ash had still not dissipated. How must I look? I got an uneasy feeling, like Ravenseal knew what had happened, almost like they had been in on it. But what did they know of the Benandanti?

Ballard s.h.i.+fted infinitesimally.

"Right. Introductions," said Lux. "This is Pirapong Bonewits" he said, pointing to a tallow candle of a witch"and Rumor Scroop"

"h.e.l.lo," I said.

"Ladies, allow me to introduce Miss Halsey Rookmaaker!"

"Wait, not the Miss Rookmaaker?" said Bonewits.

"As in our twelfth?" said Scroop.

"Turned us down, I'm afraid," said Lux.

Rumor Scroop continued to stare at me like I was a bug.

"It's not right," said Bonewits.

"No, it's not," said Scroop. "I think you should come along with us, now, dear. Leave the dog. I daresay it's not Housebroken yet."

"Now, now," said Lux. "Clever pun asidethat was rude."

Ballard let the insult roll off him. The only question I had was why Risky and my parents had been so rock-steady, being as they were, respectively, a wolf, a wizard, and a witch, when it didn't seem like the two sides got along? Werewolves had originally come to Rome to get away from wizards and witches.

"Well? Are you coming or not?" said Scroop. She made what looked like a C instead of a W, reversed and laid horizontally, and then pointed her two fingers at me. "I'm waiting," she said, dramatically. She had hair tinted the same color as her mistressshocking bluein a wave down her left eye; snakebites; and a stud in her upper lip. Her eyes were like two black holes sucking upon the irises and on the tips of her eyelashes were decorative white droplets.

Why was it the most powerful Wiccans looked this way? I immediately cautioned myself against her. How powerful was she, anyway?

I shook my head no.

"What do you mean 'no'?" she said. Wicca light shone from her eyes. "We are a House. The House, in point of fact. Council or no, you will serve this House!" said Scroop. "Come, Pirapong! Our Headmistress shall know of this! Better not dally, Lux."

The two of them turned on their heels and left.

I looked at Ballard, who continued to mutter under his breath: "I know what you can do with those three fingers," he said.

"We better leave," said Lux. "Beforebefore they come back."

"I apologize again for her threatening you like that," he said. We wended our way along the hedgerow back into Prague. "Theywellthey bully Eclectics. Scroop's number two. She will become the Head of House, once Veruschka leaves."

"So Veruschka does mean to go to the Master House, then?" I said.

"If only I could leave as well," said Lux, who sighed.

It was dark, now. The Districts were coming alive with magic. Lux bought three newspapers: London, Paris, Rome, paying for them with some skillingr, from his pocket. "There! You see?" he said, pointing to the front-page headline on one of themI could see London's Millennium Wheel on the cover.

PRIVATE SCHOOL IN ASHES FOLLOWING MYSTERIOUS FIRE.

LONDONThe British skyline was lit up last night as a series of rare lightning strikes targeted one of the city's oldest buildings.

According to one eyewitness, London's House of Peril was reduced to cinders following the crazy cloudburst that seemed to avoid every other major structure. "Lightning is never this destructive. Much less this vicious," said the eyewitness. "Crazy."

"The House of Peril. Isn't that Padget and Pilar's House?" I asked.

"Here's another one," said Lux, nodding his head.

HE'S BACK. UNKNOWN ARSONIST STRIKES AGAIN.

PARISThe banking world is in upheaval following the break-in overnight of one of Paris's oldest inst.i.tutions. "Forget the Rothschilds. Banque du Sang is one of the oldestif not the oldestbank in existence. How anyone could've broken in there, much less torched the place, is beyond me," said Rufus Severin, member of the Chair of Trustees, himself one of the largest shareholders in Banque du Sang.

"Banque du Sang?" I said.

"Vampire gold," said Lux. "Banque du Sang means 'blood bank'; it's where they store their mana; one n, not two, as well as the wealth of the Paris underworld. Someone broke in there. Read."

Rome was next. I took the newspaper with trembling fingers.

GANGLAND VIOLENCE ERUPTS AS ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO MOTORCYCLE CLUB IN TRASTEVERE.

ROMEVigili urbani, the city's munic.i.p.al police, responded Sunday night to reports of bag-s.n.a.t.c.hing and other disturbances committed by individuals racing motorcycles. It turned deadly, however, when police discovered the whereabouts of their secret lair. By Emma Skarborough.

"'Upon arrival, a fight broke out,'" I read, "'whereupon the gang's hideout, La Luna Blu, went up in flames.'Oh, Ballard" I said. "'Members of the so-called motorcycle pack fled into the night, along with a number of wild dogs, police believe may have been involved in a heavily-financed illegal underground dog-fighting ring.' What? Isn't she, like, your cousin? What is she doing?" I said.

Ballard s.n.a.t.c.hed the paper out of my hands. "'Mr. and Mrs. Gaven Overstreet are expected to face an inquiry into the illegal goings-on, along with heavy fines and possible jail sentences,'" he read. "Halls, I need to get back."

Three attacks, in three papers, in three different citiesGaven and Lia in jail "That's not even counting the Benandanti," I said to myself. The Stromovka had burned down just last night. I looked at Ballard, wondering how much we should tell Lux. He was Ravenseal, after all. Better not, I thought.

"Professor Lux, someone's destroying Houses, why?" I asked.

"Not just Houses," said Lux. "The Vampire Bank was attacked too, although it survived. It's been happening for weeks... Arsons, brushfires... it's code.... You have to know how to interpret the headlines... It means the Dark Order is back...."

There was a series of lightning strikes, followed by bodies emerging from the aether. Professor Lux scrambled to adjust the rings on his fingers. Wizards and witches were popping into existence everywhere, including Lennox.

Veruschka was with Bonewits and Scroop. They were looking indignantly at me. "You!" said the Head of House Ravenseal. Others were materializing as well.

"Seems we're all here," said another wizard, a stranger, I'd never met him before.

"House business, Blackstock, the Council has no jurisdiction," said Veruschka, her nostrils flaring.

"I've heard otherwise," cut in the wizard named Blackstock. He pointed to Lennox. "According to this vampire, Halsey Rookmaaker is free of any responsibility to your House."

Veruschka was irate. "You can't be serious? Vampires are not trustworthy, Artemidorus."

"I can prove it," said Lennox. "Or rather, Halsey can."

"Vampires are our allies," said Blackstock. "Besides, Veruschka, the proof is in that young lady's backpack, if you'll listen..." The Council of Magic was st.i.tched in silver on his magic robes.

"What proof? What are you talking about?" said Veruschka.

"Just that she belongs to another House," said Blackstock, smiling pleasantly.

Lennox motioned for me to unzip my backpack.

I took it off and unzipped it, kneeling down; there were dozens of witches and wizards present. The Directory spilled out along with the Everything bookbut also my Wiccan diploma and the red marker.

"May I?" said Mr. Blackstock.

I handed him the marker along with my diploma from St. Martley's.

"Ah, yes, Genevieve's House! And what's this? A Marker? Well, well, seems you were supposed to be selected by someone else."

BANG! Ballard transformed into a werewolf. Several of the witches and wizards reacted, brandis.h.i.+ng their marks, before settling down.

"She runs with wolves, Artemidorus. Werewolves. You know what that means," said Veruschka, insinuating the worst.

Ballard snarledbut his attention was drawn elsewhereto the Master House, itself.

"See? Not broken. What did I tell you?" said Scroop, snidely.

"It's not that, it's just"

Veruschka suggested we take "it" off the streets, but Artemidorus overrode her.

"Go on, Miss Rookmaaker, what is it?" he said to me. We were obviously on his territory.

He handed me back the Marker.